Walking south of the Comox Dam will look a little bit different as BC Hydro makes changes to accommodate upgrades to its spillway gates.
They say the trail will be rerouted away from the river and then loop back to the existing trail system while they are making the upgrades. Senior stakeholder engagement advisor Stephen Watson says the work is set to begin near Aug. 16 and could be finished by September.
“We have planned upgrades to the Comox Dam’s control building, backup power supply and upgrades to the two spillway gates, with this work beginning this fall and last about two years,” said Watson.
“The recreational trail goes right through an area that will become a construction zone, so we’ve developed a short detour that allows for the public to access to continue to safely connect to upstream or downstream trails during project construction.”
Watson adds that the existing trail along the river will stay open, but there may be some intermittent closures. The cost of the dam upgrades is $47 million.
The rerouted trail may also become permanent as the existing trail along the dam might be decommissioned.
